Astraea is a character design for a fantasy ARPG set within an open-world environment. I designed her to accommodate a balance for fresh, readable combat mechanics with abilities that reinforce the character’s personality, visual identity, and moment-to-moment gameplay. As is common in Game Design, multiple facets of the character must come together to create a grounded experience within the world that is mechanically unique and intriguing to engage with.
I worked off the premise that players are already comfortable with core mechanics and are looking to elevate from conventional combat norms. Astraea is a high-mobility skirmisher who excels at disrupting enemy groups through deliberate positioning and ability management, trading durability for speed and control. Her playstyle is designed to reward planning and spatial awareness, with conditionally powerful abilities that encourage thoughtful, measured use. The intended vision for Astraea’s combat presence is a flashy dance as she gracefully dismantles enemy formations and dictates the flow of battle.
Of Sparks and Starlight is a quest design developed to deepen the narrative engagement of players to the game while reinforcing the its core systems and worldbuilding. I focused on creating a strong narrative hook supported by environmental storytelling and character-driven motivations. Player agency was prioritised through meaningful dialogue choices and interactions that branch into multiple story paths and resolutions. Choices are closely tied to gameplay systems so that narrative decisions have tangible mechanical consequences, leading to reactive and impactful consequences with the wider game world.